damned_institute | Day 35: Pearl’s Beauty Salon Hair and Nails

The Doctor followed Donna into the salon, but stopped to look around at the entrance. He spun around to face Donna when she asked him about his nails, and then he looked down where she'd taken his arm.

"Once. Well... Did I?" he mused aloud, looking up towards the ceiling as he tried to remember. Getting a manicure wasn't exactly on his usual to-do list when he arrived on a planet, especially when there were important things to do, like finding the TARDIS.

"If you don't remember, then you're long overdue for one." That was Donna's rule for it at least.

As for Donna's to-do list, pampering was pretty high up there. Especially with the lack of a shower either yesterday or today.

"If I don't—" he started to repeat, stopping suddenly. "What?"

He stared at Donna. "There's more important things to do," he insisted. "The TARDIS could be around somewhere. You remember the TARDIS, don't you? Big blue box?"

"Yeah, hard thing to miss, a big blue box. You seen one of those around?" Donna's eyes widened as he head jerked a bit with her words, "Because I'd hate to lose something like that!"

Bitter? No, not Donna Noble. Never.

"And besides that, which is, by the way, your fault, there are how many of those doctors out there?" She straightened, "And you, you don't have any of your stuff do you? No psychic paper or screwdriver? Just far you think we'll get on that unbeaten path, really? Don't suppose you know Kung-Fu?"

"Oh, I hear the bitter melody of a lover's quarrel," came a sing-song voice from behind the two of them. Pearl herself appeared, followed by a whiff of jasmine. The heavyset woman was carrying a stool, which she set down at one of the nearby counters.

"Sorry I'm late, dears. Here, why don't you flash me those coupons of yours and we'll get right down to business. Nothing calms the nerves like a good manicure. Am I right?"

She watched the two of them, Donna in particular, with an expectant look that didn't allow for much in the way of argument.

"It's not my fault!" the Doctor replied, the pitch of his voice rising. "What do you think; I said, 'I think I'll lose the TARDIS— and oh yeah, get myself and Donna and Rose into a mental hospital'?"

He'd had more to say to Donna's outburst—including the fact that he may not've known kung-fu, but he knew Venusian judo—but a woman had bustled over and assumed the worst.

His face turned serious as he faced the woman. "Oh, no, we're— We're not—" he started.

...Why did everyone always think that?

"Well, I don't know, but somehow or another these messes always trail right back to you, spaceman! And, let's not forget, this isn't the first time you've stuck me in a bloody mental hospital!" That really wasn't his fault, but Donna liked thinking it had been. After all, they hadn't needed to go to the Library, but the Doctor just couldn't resist a call for help with a kiss!

When her ears picked up on those words, that damn assumption again, her face dropped while her head shook. "-we're so not. -never," and she finished, tagging on to the incompleteness of the Doctor's own words.

The Doctor glanced at Donna, nodding in agreement. "We're definitely not," he added, making a gesture with one hand to indicate himself and Donna. "Absolutely not."

He was quiet for a moment, and then reached into his pocket to fish out the coupon book one of the nurses had handed him. "Right. Coupons!" He didn't think either Donna or the woman would tolerate him leaving at this point, so he might as well proceed. The sooner they were finished, the sooner he could look for the TARDIS.

Pearl did her best to ignore the comments that certainly had something to do with the reason they were in the Institution, despite how otherwise sane they might seem.

"Of course not, of course not. One at a time, dears." She motioned for Donna to take a seat first. "And what lovely hands you have. Could teach your man - your friend there a thing or two."

Donna returned the look but left her head still shaking. "Not in a million years, not." Her own hand was up, index finger pointed.

With her book already out, Donna only turned a page to find the right coupon. It was kind of weird not using the psychic paper for this, but so long as she got her pampering she really didn't care.

She took the first seat as indicated (she would have gone first anyway since this was her idea) and started with the usual salon gossip. First things first though, "Yes, friend," she made that point again when the woman slipped, "And he doesn't even remember the last time he had a manicure. I'd have to hang myself if I couldn't remember that. That's way too long to be going without."

Since the woman seemed perfectly happy to take Donna as her first customer, the Doctor returned the coupon book to his pocket.

"I'll just... take a look around," he said. He started to move away from them to look around the shop. Since he couldn't remember where the TARDIS had landed, if the TARDIS had landed, it could be anywhere... beauty salons included.

"Don't stray too far now," Pearl advised, watching the Doctor over her shoulder for a moment before returning to the task at hand. "Wouldn't want to lose track of you." Who knew when these mental patients were bound to go wandering off on their own. At least there should be plenty of staff around.

She made herself comfortable across from Donna, motioning with one hand for the woman to hold out her own. "And what were you hoping for today, hmm? Or should I just give you the works?"

"Yeah, what she said. I know you..." Donna gave the Doctor a warning look. If he did get too far chances were he'd come flying back in a heap of trouble - halfway through her pampering! - and telling her to run for it!

With the warning out of the way, Donna took a soft expression and focused on the woman. "Oh the works would be wonderful. They didn't even give us a shower yesterday!"

"What?" Pearl looked absolutely appalled, but only for a moment. Then she shook her head. "Well... I suppose there are an awful lot of you, and facilities can be limited. Still, that is a shame."

She had to be careful not to get too into any conversation she had with the patients. They might start off well enough, but would surely turn bizarre after a while. They were staying in that place for a reason, after all.

"Thank goodness for lovely nails, though!" she praised, keeping the subject on trivial things as she got started. "You wouldn't believe some of the messes I have to deal with."

The woman was right to be so shocked; Donna could hardly believe it herself, but it was fact. "I don't care how many there are. What kind of a place doesn't even allow for proper hygiene? It isn't a prison!" At least, it did not seem to be a prison during the day. Night was a little different, but still, one day without having a proper shower was just too much!

Donna huffed, then remembered that this was supposed to be a manicure and raised her hand finally. "But enough of that," Donna was not in the mod to talk about that place too much either. Not unless this woman could give her some information, "You won't find much of a mess here, I can promise you that. Unlike some people," like the one wandering about the store, "I keep properly groomed. Never know who might be looking."

"My mentality exactly," Pearl agreed, right before she wondered if it was right to be agreeing with someone in a mental institution. Well, some were bound to be more sane than others. This one might be well on her way to being cured, for all she knew.

"It's the times you least expect it that you're bound to find roaming eyes, so you have to be prepared at all times."

"Hopefully a pair connected to something worthwhile. Any eyes could be roaming, you know." Donna gave the Doctor just a quick glance, then pulled her eyes back to the woman, wondering why she'd just needed to prove a point to herself with him. "But still not be worth it."

((From here.)) (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/447260.html?thread=36569116#t36569628)

This had to be the place. Pearl's Beauty Salon. Roland smiled as he held the door open for Argilla, then followed her in. ...there were two other individuals in there already, very obviously having a disagreement, but Roland wouldn't let that dampen his mood.

If anything, he was a bit grateful. When Argilla got upset, people tended to get eaten. Now, all he had to do was wait for the first available person to get to him, and all would be well. Well, no, first person to Argilla. Roland wasn't one for a manicure, himself.

Argilla smiled at Roland as he held the door open for her and slipped past him and into the shop. She couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the harsh scent that assaulted her; Harsh chemicals, but she adjusted after a moment and looked around herself with wide eyes at all of the unfamiliar objects. Little coloured bottles and posters and things she didn't even have names for.

She looked back at Roland uncertainly. "So uh... what do I do?"

Roland could imagine that the harsh smell would be even worse for a demon, with their more-developed sense of smell involved. But she'd get used to it, hopefully... more importantly, the experience should more than make up for that initial discomfort.

At the question, he smiled encouragingly and said, "Head to the counter and show them your coupon. They should take care of the rest from there."

"Right..." she said, still looking a little awkward amidst the plethora of things she didn't understand. She scrubbed at her nose for a moment, the smells tickling it annoyingly, before she went over the counter. She pulled the little wad of paper out of her pocket and located the right voucher. Now, to see what all of this was about.

"Excuse me..." A petite young woman, hardly out of high school from the looks of her, rushed to the counter to meet with them, offering a weak smile. "I'm Lindsey. Pearl already has customers, but I can see to you."

She appeared uncertain of what to make of them, and it was obvious that she was finding it very difficult not to ask questions. "You're from, uh... I mean. You have coupons, don't you? Just take a seat over here..."

There was an open booth on the other side of the room from the other visitors, and she motioned them towards it, clearing a few items off the table. "Am I doing both of you?"

[Skipping Jade 'cause he's busy moving and all ^^;]

Argilla smiled back at the woman and handed over the coupon with a nod. "Yes." She followed the woman's gaze over to the booth and headed in that direction a little uncertainly, not sure what to expect and not liking being hedged in by strangers. She looked over at Roland for reassurance. "I don't think he wants to," she replied weakly, remembering what Roland had said, resting her hands in her lap.

Just so you know, Argilla's nails, like her lips and hair, are already bright pink like they've been painted XD But it won't come off, that's just what colour they are.

[From here!]

Stepping inside, Anise glanced around the shop and couldn't help but giggle. "Wow! It looks like it's all couples in here. I didn't know a place like this could be used as a dating spot!" She shot a playful grin at her own 'date.'

While waiting for service, the girl let her eyes wander to the signs and products on display, though she wasn't sure what to make of most of them. The prices were especially beyond her understanding. What was '$25' in gald? It sounded cheap, but who knew how Earth currency worked?

It did look that way, didn't it? Guy hadn't been expecting that either, but it seemed that a few other men had been dragged to this place at the behest of their female friend.

At least it meant that there weren't as many women in here as he had been expecting - though adding the people who ran the place obviously made it so that the men were outnumbered. Guy stayed near the door as he had planned, though he also got distracted by looking around, if only to keep his mind off of things.

"So," he said, glancing down at Anise, "what color do you want to get?" He pointed out a display with different types of nail polish to choose from.

Did he have to ask? The obvious answer was pink!

But when Anise neared the display Guy had pointed out to her, she realized that wasn't quite an answer in itself. There were tons of shades of pink! Some dark, some light, some reddish, some purplish... It was kind of impressive, for a tiny shop in a tiny town.

"Oh, wow! They really have a lot, don't they? But I think the best would have to be..." she traced her finger along the row of pink polishes, hesitating as though reconsidering the decision at the very last moment, then stopped with it pointed at a cherry pink color. "...this! Don't you think?" She didn't expect Guy to have any strong opinions regarding shades of pink, but maybe he'd humor her a bit.

As Guy watched his friend debate over which kind of pink she wanted, he could only reflect to himself how different men and women seemed to be. He just couldn't relate to this kind of thing, but that didn't meant that he was necessarily trivializing it. After all, there were things he got excited about that other people didn't understand, such as fontech. Everyone had different likes and different things that got them excited.

So when he asked for his opinion, Guy figured he should do the nice thing and at least act like he was interested.

"Yeah, that looks nice," he said with a small smile. "It should make you stand out a little more once they force us back into those boring uniforms, right?" He wondered how long it would last before the nail polish started chipping, though. It should be good for at least a week, though, right? Then Anise could always come back here and get them repainted.

"Anyway, I guess we should try and find someone to help you..." He turned and looked over the store, trying to see if anyone was free to see to them.

"Just a moment!" A figure came running up to the counter, accidentally knocking over a clipboard that had been set on the top in the process. "Oops! My bad. Hold on."

The girl had short, pixie-cut blonde hair that was obviously dyed extra light. Every other word out of her mouth was accented by a smack of chewing gum. "Hi! My name is Trish, but all my friends call me 'Triz.'" She drew a Z in the air with one finger. "Can I see your coupons?"

A quick wink was sent in Guy's direction.

Anise nodded, eyes still fixed on the array of colors before her. "Yeah! If there's anything they need at that crusty old hospital, it's more color." She did still have the little colored bracelet Mion had made for her, and now she had Tokunaga too, so she wasn't completely without color on her person. But every little bit helped!

It wasn't much longer before someone came to the counter, and Anise looked up from the display to face the stranger. 'Triz,' was it? What a weird nickname. It wasn't even shorter than her real name. And it looked like she was chewing on something... If she was in the middle of eating, couldn't she stop for long enough to deal with customers? Anise wasn't sure if it was rude or if it was something people normally did on Earth, so she decided not to think too much on it.

Anise caught that wink and quickly shot a glance at Guy in hope of getting a glimpse of his reaction. Whether he liked it or not, he really did have that charming sort of effect on girls. Anise would have been worried about competition over the young and handsome count, if it weren't for that problem of his.

Her attention was quickly brought back to the salesperson asking for coupons. "Oh! Sure, it's right here." She slipped her hand in her skirt pocket and retrieved the pack of vouchers, picking out the right one and holding it out for the girl.

When someone came rushing over, Guy raised an eyebrow and then winced when she sent a clipboard clattering to the floor. Seeing how he had been raised, he wasn't able to stop himself from kneeling down to pick it up for her, setting it carefully back on the counter.

He had caught the look she had given, along with Anise's glance at him. Guy tried to keep his cool, sending the helper a small smile in return. So long as she kept her distance, there was nothing wrong with being friendly. Other than the odd name and the stuff she was chewing, she seemed nice enough.

Besides, Anise was the one who really needed to be seen to. He watched as his friend pulled out her coupon and then he looked to the stranger. "That's all," he said with a small laugh. "I'm pretty sure I can pass on this one." He just hoped the manicure didn't take too long, since he would have liked to get a better look at the town and see what else it had to offer.

The girl looked sincerely disappointed when Guy declined. "Aw, for real? A gentleman like you could always use a set of fine nails. I don't have to paint them, you know."

She didn't pressure him, however, as she took Anise's coupons and led them both over to an empty booth. "All right. You just take a seat right there and- oh! Forgot the basket of polish. One sec." She rushed off for just a moment, returning with a cheap green plastic basket full of most of the colors on display up front.

It was a nice try on this Triz girl's part, but Anise knew that Guy wasn't getting into one of those chairs even if she was offering something he'd actually want. Did men really get their nails done here often, or was she just grasping for excuses to get up close and personal with him? Despite being able to relate, Anise couldn't help but feel it was a little funny to watch when it was someone else's flirting attempts getting brushed off.

Anise followed the girl over to the indicated chair, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when she hurried off to grab the basket she had apparently forgotten. She sure seemed like a scatter-brain. Sitting down at the booth, Anise just hoped this girl wasn't as clumsy at her job as she seemed to be at other things.

"Ahahaha. That's all right, really." Guy waved her off, doing his best to be polite. Hopefully she had just been teasing him, since he didn't think that men getting their nails painted was really the norm. Then again, this wasn't Auldrant. He would have to ask Claude about it sometime, if he could get the question out without it being too awkward.

He followed them over to the booth and watched as Anise sat and the girl ran off to get something, but Guy soon found himself getting antsy. There wasn't much space, really, and with the other customers and workers around, he knew he wouldn't be able to handle this for much longer.

"You gonna be all right on your own?" he asked Anise, wanting to make sure of that first. "I think I'm gonna go stand by the door and wait there."

"Awww... and leave your little friend all on her lonesome?" Trish pouted. It figured. Even the mentally unstable guys never wanted to stick around in the salon. Well, there was Roger. Roger didn't count, though. He was a queer.

She busied herself instead with seeing to Anise and practically fell into the seat across from her with a long sigh. "Ah well. Men. Let's see those nails."

"Yeah, and leave me all on my lonesome?" Anise echoed, trying to sound hurt. There was a teasing smirk on her face that didn't quite match the innocent tone she had said it in. It was just a habit to give the guy a hard time. Really, she could see why hanging around the middle of such a girly shop could be intimidating for him.

Oh, but she wasn't just being mean! The more exposure Guy had to females, the closer he was going to get to completely overcoming his phobia! At least, that was how Anise justified it to herself.

As requested, she held out a hand for the other girl to see. There wasn't anything terribly remarkable about Anise's hands. Despite all the effort she put into her appearance, her hands got very little attention since her work as an Oracle Knight was liable to ruin them in all kinds of ways. Simple was safest - and cheapest. With nightshift occasionally calling for some rough work - like when she had been wrestling pipes from their sockets with the Cooking Club - it was possible that anything done to her nails today wouldn't last terribly long, either. As long as she was getting the treatment for free though, it would be no big loss if that happened.

Once again, all Guy could do was laugh as the two girls gave him a hard time for wanting to get away. He could tell that Anise wasn't really all that bothered, though, and so he didn't hesitate to move back to the front of the store, leaning against the wall near the door. He was soon getting distracted by everyone who was passing by outside, though he made sure to glance back and check on his friend from time to time.

He wondered how her nails would turn out looking. Anise was able to make most anything look cute, so he was sure the result would be nice. He would have to tease her about showing them off to Ion once she got the chance, though.

"Ooh." Trish gave the girl's nails a scrutinizing look, as though trying to find the meaning behind a new piece of abstract art. "Yeah, these nails need some care. Well! That's what you're here for!"

She started setting supplies out on the table in front of her. "Don't worry. I know just how to deal with a mess like this." A file was in her hand at once, and she began working on the edges or Anise's nails. "At least you're not a biter."

A mess? Anise knew they hadn't had much care, but they weren't that bad! She narrowed her eyes a bit at the girl, but tried her best to stay pleasant. She wasn't trying to insult her, was she? "Of course not!" she chirped with a slightly strained smile. "I wouldn't dream of picking up any habits that could detract from my beauty." For the self-proclaimed Beauty of Daath, that would be unacceptable, naturally.

Beauty? Trish quirked an eyebrow. Well, she couldn't really say anything. The kid was in a mental institute right now. She supposed she should have some pity.

"Good, good. Had a friend who was a biter. It was a nervous habit. Kept her nails down to the quick constantly. (Other hand now, please.) You couldn't even paint them, because it just made them look worse."

Catching bits and pieces of the conversation going on behind him, Guy assured himself that it was all pretty much trivial small talk, which meant he could focus more of his attention on what was happening outside.

He absentmindedly watched the other patients stroll past, examining their various outfits and looking for unlikely pairs, wondering to himself how people had met up and gotten to know each other. He even tried to figure out whether a group of patients had known each other from before coming here or if they had met at Landel's. It was harder than he had expected to tell...

But then he caught sight of a very familiar face. There was Claude, and it looked like he was on his own. Guy raised an eyebrow and then quickly turned back toward Anise and the store worker. "Hey, Anise! I'm going to go say hello to Claude real fast, all right? I'll be just outside."

Without waiting for an answer, he headed out of the door and onto Main Street.

[To here.]

"That's terrible!" Anise gasped. "Girls should take more pride in their appearance than that." Pulling her hand back to examine the work done to it, she offered the other.

When Guy announced he was stepping out, Anise looked over at him and opened her mouth to shout an answer, but he was already gone. She pouted as she turned back to face the other girl. "Boooo, looks like he ran away."

Day 35: Pearl’s Beauty Salon Hair and Nails

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